Abortion Not Always Safe, Legal and Rare

Transcription

1 MAY 1, 2013 Abortion Not Always Safe, Legal and Rare by Lori Arnold Research Analyst Abortion access bill returns for another hearing By Lori Arnold Closing arguments began yesterday in the gruesome court trial of a Pennsylvania abortionist accused of murdering babies during lateterm abortions, which are illegal in the state. Dr. Kermit Gosnell, owner of the Women s Medical Center in Philadelphia, faces four counts of first-degree murder in the death of infants he tried to abort and an additional count of third-degree murder for the death of a woman under his care at the clinic. The mainstream media largely ignored the trial which began in Marchh until a recent USA Today commentary by Kirsten Powers, a journalist with the Daily Beast, chastised her colleagues for ignoring the story. You don t have to oppose abortion rights to find late-term abortion abhorrent or to find the Gosnell trial eminently newsworthy, she wrote in the April 11 piece. This is not about being pro-choice or pro-life. It s about basic human rights. The deafening silence of too much of the media, once a force for justice in America, is a disgrace. Until recently, a Google news search for Gosnell netted mostly information from alternative news sources, even though numerous staffers from the center are also facing charges. Among the revelations in the trial: some of the aborted babies were decapitated after Gosnell and his staff used scissors to cut the spines of at least 100 living infants; severed feet were discovered in jars; one infant was heard screaming after a failed abortion attempt; and a baby boy, who employees said was breathing for about 20 minutes, was tossed into a shoebox to die. In all, 47 babies were discovered in water jugs, containers designed for pet food and a freezer. Almost as revolting, though, is the fact that health officials had not inspected the clinic for 17 years. It s against this despicable backdrop that the Assembly Health Committee on April 23 passed Assembly Bill (AB) 154, (Atkins, D-San Diego), the widely watched abortion expansion bill. The passage came easily on a 13-6 vote. Under Toni Atkins proposal, the state law requiring abortions to be performed only by doctors would be nixed to allow nurse practitioners, physician assistants and certified nurse midwives to provide the surgical procedures. Although the macabre conditions discovered in Gosnell s clinic are, thankfully, rare, complications from abortion procedures are not as atypical as the media would lead us to believe. If there is one lesson to be learned in the case its that abortion clinics need more monitoring, not less. Expanding access to abortions by decreasing the training to perform them is counterintuitive to the tired, dishonest argument that abortion should be safe, legal and rare. While we await the next assignment for AB 154 another life-related measure, AB 926, (Bonilla, D-Concord), was scheduled to get its second reading on the Assembly floor Monday. The Bonilla bill would pave the way for women to sell their reproductive eggs a medically invasive practice with potential health risks for research. The eggs could then be fertilized, and then destroyed for the purposes of research.

2 Also before the full Assembly will be AB 1266 (Ammiano, D-San Francisco), which disrupts the school environment by forcing educators to accommodate the perceived gender of all children participating in sports and other activities. On another front, the will be busy this week with numerous hearings, including one set for Wednesday on AB 714, which allocates $2 million of general fund money for research for spinal cord injuries using embryonic stem cells. As part of the research process, however, human embryos the first stage of fertilized human life must be killed. The same committee will also consider AB 496 (Gordon, D-Los Altos), which forces physicians and dentists to undergo taxpayerfunded Cultural and Linguistic Competency concerning Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender issues. A good bill under their consideration will be AB 465 (Bonilla, D-Concord) that requires all youth sports organizations to run criminal background checks on its coaches and volunteers. Finally, SB 323 (Lara, D-Long Beach), the punitive tax measure that targets the Boy Scouts and other groups that ban openly homosexual members, had been scheduled for a Monday hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee, but has been withdrawn. However, during its last hearing before the Senate Governance and Finance Committee on April 10, a Scout representative urged the committee to hold off on passing the law while national Scout officials review its policy. I think the process has begun, and I think it will end up where it should end up, Rick Cronk, a state Scout leader testified, according to the Los Angeles Times. When Scouting tries to renavigate it takes a while, and Scouting is in the process of doing that. Undaunted by his testimony, the committee voted 5-2 to approve the measure. For more information on the bills due for action this week, see the list below, which contains summaries and talking points. There is also a list of committee members for the. Chair Mike Gatto (D-Burbank) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (818) Vice Chair Diane L. Harkey (R-San Juan Capistrano) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (949) Franklin E. Bigelow (R-Jackson) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (209) Raul Bocanegra (D-Arleta) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (818) Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (310) Ian C. Calderon (D-City of Industry) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (562) Nora Campos (D-San Jose) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (408) Tim Donnelly (R-Hesperia) Will hear AB 465, AB 496, and AB 714

3 Sacramento Office (916) District Office (760) Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (209) Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (213) Isadore Hall, III (D-Compton) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (310) Chris R. Holden (D-Pasadena) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (626) Eric Linder (R-Corona) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (951) Richard Pan (D-Modesto) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (209) Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (510) Donald P. Wagner (R-Tustin) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (714) Shirley N. Weber (D-San Diego) Sacramento Office (916) District Office (619) Actions, week of April 22 AB 154 (Atkins, D-San Diego) Abortion Passed Assembly Business, Professions and Consumer Protection Committee, 9-4 Passed Assembly Health Committee, 13-6 AB 314 (Pan, D-Sacramento) Health care coverage: Self-funded student plans and policies. Passed, as amended, 12-5 On Assembly floor, third reading, no action AB 465 (Maienschein, R-San Diego) Youth sports: Criminal background checks. Passed Assembly Public Safety Committee, 6-0 AB 663 (Gomez, D-Los Angeles) Residential care facilities: Administrators: Training requirements. Passed Assembly Human Services Committee, as amended, 5-2 Passed Assembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee, 5-2

4 AB 868 (Ammiano, D-San Francisco) Courts: Training programs: Gender identity and sexual orientation. Passed Assembly Judiciary Committee, 8-2 AB 1027 (Bonilla, D-Concord) Youth sports: Criminal background checks. Assembly Public Safety Committee, not heard AB 1121 (Atkins, D-San Diego) Civil proceedings: Petition for change of name. Passed Assembly Judiciary Committee, as amended, 9-1 To Assembly floor, read second time, amended Re-referred to SB 57 (Lieu, D-Torrance) Electronic monitoring: Removing GPS Senate Public Safety Committee, not heard SB 190 (Wright, D-Inglewood) Gambling: Sports wagering Passed Senate Governmental Organization Committee, 11-0 SB 192 (Liu, D-Glendale) Early learning and school educational support services Passed Senate Education Committee, 7-1 SB 453 (Huff, R-Walnut) School employees: Teachers: Evaluation: Termination. Failed Senate Education Committee, 2-6 SB 473 (Block, D-San Diego) Human trafficking. Passed Senate Public Safety Committee, 7-0 SB 531 (Knight, R-Lancaster) School employees: Discipline: Suspension and dismissal. Senate Education Committee, heard, remains in committee On the floor: week of April 29 AB 314 (Pan, D-Sacramento) Health care coverage: Self-funded student plans and policies. Existing federal law, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA),, enacts various health care coverage market reforms that take effect January 1, Among other things, PPACA prohibits a health insurance provider from establishing lifetime limits or unreasonable annual limits on the dollar value of benefits for any participant or beneficiary, as specified. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. That act does not apply to a plan directly operated by a bona fide public or private institution of higher learning that directly provides health care services only to its students, faculty, staff, administration, and their respective dependents. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires every health care service plan or health insurer that issues, sells, renews, or offers contracts or policies for health care coverage in this state to comply, to the extent required by federal law, with the requirements of the above-described provision of PPACA and any rules or regulations issued under that provision. This bill would additionally impose those requirements, to the extent required by federal law, on a plan directly operated by a bona fide public or private institution of higher learning that directly provides health care services only to its students, faculty, staff, administration, and their respective dependents or a health insurance policy directly offered by such an institution only to those persons. Because a willful violation of these requirements with respect to those plans would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Passed, as amended, 12-5 Assembly floor, third reading, April 29

5 Forces all private colleges, including religious campuses, to offer contraception coverage with no regard or opt-out provisions for religious beliefs. The law s mandate to provide contraception coverage includes the use of abortifacients, commonly known as morning after pills, which terminate life. The law could force increased costs to Christian colleges who must offer insurance benefits not previously offered. AB 663 (Gomez, D-Los Angeles) Residential care facilities: Administrators: Training requirements. Existing law requires the Director of Social Services, in consultation with the Director of Health Care Services and the Director of Developmental Services, to establish a training program to ensure that licensees, operators, and staffs of adult residential care facilities have appropriate training to provide the care and services for which a license or certificate is issued. Existing law also requires the administrator of an adult residential care facility to undergo 35 hours of training, including specified subjects, including business operations and the psychosocial needs of the facility residents. This bill would require the administrator training to be a total of 40 hours and would require that the training include 5 hours of training in cultural competency and sensitivity in aging lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender minority issues. Passed Assembly Aging and Long-Term Care Committee, 5-2 Assembly floor April 29, second reading Forces residential care facilities to increase their administrative training hours by 14 percent to cover cultural competency and sensitivity issues for the LGBT community. Contains no opt-out clause for those who oppose the homosexual lifestyle on moral or religious grounds. Adds another state-mandated indoctrination course on a private entity, when such facilities should be able to determine what type of cultural instruction is best suited for their own clientele. Establishes and promotes another protected class for homosexuals. AB 926 (Bonilla, D-Concord) Reproductive health and research. Existing law prohibits human oocytes or embryos from being acquired, sold, offered for sale, received, or otherwise transferred for valuable consideration for medical research or otherwise transferred for valuable consideration for medical research or development of medical therapies, and prohibits payment in excess of the amount of reimbursement of direct expenses to be made to any research subject to encourage her to produce human oocytes for the purposes of medical research. This bill would instead require women providing human oocytes for research to be compensated for their time, trouble, and inconvenience in the same manner as other research subjects, as prescribed. The bill would require an institutional review board to disregard the amount of compensation if a woman providing human oocytes for fertility is compensated, human oocytes or embryos in excess of those needed for fertility are offered for research, and certain conditions are met. Passed Assembly Health Committee, as amended, 14-5 Assembly floor April 29, second reading The essential components to the creation of human life should not be reduced to a commodity. The bill amounts to selling eggs for research, which crosses well-established moral and ethical lines already in place by the sales ban of human organs. Insufficient data is available about the long-term effects of fertility drugs used to stimulate ovulation for their harvesting.

6 Some studies suggest links to cancer and 6 percent of women using the drugs develop ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, which causes painful swelling to the ovaries that can prompt fluid to leak into the belly and chest area. Other possible repercussions include weight gain, bloating, nausea, shortness of breath, blood clots, kidney failure, electrolyte imbalance and hormone-induced depression. Less known are the emotional repercussions of a woman going through ovulation stimulation that does not result in pregnancy. The lure of quick money puts cash-strapped women, particularly those in college, at greatest danger to a highly unregulated industry. AB 1266 (Ammiano, D-San Francisco) Pupil rights: Sex-segregated school programs. Existing law prohibits public schools from discriminating on the basis of specified characteristics, including gender, gender identity, and gender expression, and specifies various statements of legislative intent and the policies of the state in that regard. Existing law requires that participation in a particular physical education activity or sport, if required of pupils of one sex, be available to pupils of each sex. This bill would require that a pupil be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs, activities, and facilities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil's records. Passed Assembly Education Committee, as amended, 5-2 Assembly floor April 29, second reading This measure expands on previous laws subscribing special rights to children who believe they are transgender. In this new proposal, the common good of all school children would be rejected in favor of the perceived feelings of no more than a few classmates who claim confusion about their gender identity. Once again, lawmakers are forcing disruptive legislation upon entire schools and districts to accommodate the needs of a tiny, selected class of students who are processing issues that are outside of the scope of academic learning. Removes safety procedures that segregate students by gender in locker rooms and would allow teens to enter any dressing room of their liking under the guise of gender identity. California public schools need to focus on their history of under-performing, not on social experiment venues for sexual behaviors. SB 190 (Roderick Wright, D-Inglewood) Gambling: Sports wagering Authorizes owners and operators of gambling establishments, or owners and operators of a horse racing track, including a horse racing association, or a satellite wagering facility, with a current license, to conduct wagering on professional and collegiate sports or athletic events, other than on collegiate sports or athletic events that take place in California or in which any California college team participates, by applying to the California Gambling Control Commission or California Horse Racing Board. Passed Senate Governmental Organization Committee, 11-0 Senate floor, second reading, April 29 Expands gambling within the state to include sports wagering. With 60 casinos and 90 card rooms across the state, California has more than enough gambling opportunities. Gaming is a highly addictive behavior that negatively impacts families, and has shown to be particularly problematic for the poor.

7 The state s penchant for living outside its means has prompted a series of proposals to increase gambling within the state to raise revenues. This bill would result in an additional 7.5 percent of sports gambling revenues to go to the state. Scheduled hearings: week of April 29 Monday, April 29 SB 145 (Pavley, D-Santa Monica) Sex Offenders: Child pornography Existing law makes it a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months to 3 years, or in a county jail for up to one year, or by a fine not exceeding $2,500, or by both the fine and imprisonment, to knowingly possess or control child pornography, as specified. A subsequent violation of this provision is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 2 to 6 years. Deletes the sentencing structure for a subsequent violation of knowingly possessing or controlling child pornography, and increases imprisonment in the state prison to 3, 5, or 7 years. Makes it either a felony or a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment or fine, or by both, if the person knowingly possesses or controls child pornography, and the matter contains more than 600 images, at least 10 of which are images of prepubescent minors or minors under 12 years of age. Passed Senate Public Safety Committee, 7-0 Senate Appropriations Committee Dramatically increases punishments from as few as 16 months to as much as 7 years for the first time offense of possessing or controlling child pornography. The penalty for the worst offenders would more than double, from 3 years to 7 years. Helps to counter California s reputation of being among the weakest states regarding the penalties for child pornography offenders. While the scaled sentencing guidelines will increase sentences across the board, it will give judges the ability to provide harsher punishments for the worst offenders. Tuesday, April 30 AB 460 (Ammiano, D-San Francisco) Health care coverage: Infertility. Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law also imposes various requirements and restrictions on health care service plans and health insurers, including, among other things, a requirement that every health care service plan contract or health insurance policy that is issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 1990, offer coverage for the treatment of infertility, except in vitro fertilization, under those terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between the group subscriber or the group policyholder and the plan or the insurer, except as provided. This bill would require that the coverage for the treatment of infertility be offered and provided without discrimination on the basis of age, ancestry, color, disability, domestic partner status, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. In sum, this bill would mandate health care payment for infertility treatment for same-sex couples, who by definition cannot reproduce together. Assembly Health Committee

8 Forces insurance companies to expand their services by providing infertility coverage for homosexual couples. Contains no opt-out clause for those who oppose the homosexual lifestyle on moral or religious grounds. Adds another state-mandated intrusion the private sector. Establishes and promotes another protected class for homosexuals. SB 57 (Lieu, D-Torrance) Electronic monitoring: Removing GPS device: Offense Existing law permits, and with respect to certain sex offenders requires, the use of electronic monitoring by county probation departments and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to electronically monitor the whereabouts of persons on probation and parole, respectively. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would address the removal and disablement of global positioning system monitoring devices by parolees and probationers. Under California s prison realignment program, in which inmates have been released early, the state has seen a spike in the number of parole violators who have removed their GPS devices to avoid detection. As a deterrent, this bill is expected to make removal of the devices a felony, sending violators back to prison. Senate Public Safety Committee Makes it a felony for parolees to remove GPS devices The increased monitoring improves community safety Reduces law enforcement time searching for parole violators Wednesday, May 1 AB 156 (Holden, D-Pasadena) Human trafficking: Electronic communications An act to amend Section of the Penal Code, relating to human trafficking, the bill expands the provisions of existing law authorizing interception of wire or electronic communications to apply if a judge determines that there is probable cause to believe that an individual is committing, has committed, or is about to commit a violation of that provision proscribing human trafficking. Existing law also allows the monitoring of electronic communications in cases of murder and the illegal possession or sale of controlled substances. Passed Assembly Public Safety Committee, 7-0 Gives law enforcement personnel another vital tool to identify and prosecute human trafficking. Since the bill stipulates that judicial approval is required for communication surveillance, there is a check-and-balance to prevent abuse by law enforcement. Families and communities benefit from the reduction of sex trafficking.

9 AB 465 (Bonilla, D-Concord) Youth sports: Criminal background checks. Originally authored by Brian Maienschein, R-San Diego, the proposal was amended earlier this month to credit the author as Susan Bonilla (D-Concord. Earlier this year, Bonilla wrote a similar law designated as AB 1027, which sits in the Assembly Public Safety Committee. Existing law authorizes specified entities to receive state summary criminal history information from the Department of Justice. Existing law also requires mandated reporters, as defined, to report child abuse and neglect to local law enforcement. This bill would require the department to provide state summary criminal history information to the director of a community youth athletics program, or his or her designee, for the purposes of screening volunteer or hired coaches and would prohibit a person from having access to minors as a coach or volunteer until the community youth athletics program has received and reviewed the state summary criminal history information. The bill would state that performing the required background check does not remove or limit the liability of a mandated reporter. Passed Assembly Public Safety Committee, 6-0 AB 465 is a common-sense approach to help parents and youth workers protect their children by providing valuable information about sex offenders. Provides an extra layer of protection that may fill the gaps caused by bureaucratic delays in fingerprinting and other background check information. The proposal is cost-effective because it only seeks to distribute information the Department of Justice already has in its possession and distributes to other agencies. AB 496 (Gordon, D-Los Altos) Medicine: Sexual orientation, Gender identity, and gender expression. Existing law creates the Task Force on Culturally and Linguistically Competent Physicians and Dentists and requires the Director of Consumer Affairs, in consultation with the Director of Health Care Services, to appoint as task force members, among other people, California licensed physicians and dentists that provide health services to members of language and ethnic minority groups and representatives of organizations that advocate on behalf of, or provide health services to, members of language and ethnic minority groups. This bill would require the licensed task force members and advocate task force members to instead provide health services to, or advocate on behalf of, members of language and ethnic minority groups and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender groups. The bill would require the task force to report its findings to the Legislature and appropriate licensing boards by January 1, This bill would additionally require the program to address lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender groups of interest to local medical societies. The bill would require the training programs to be formulated in collaboration with California-based lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender medical societies. The bill would also redefine the term cultural and linguistic competency and understanding and applying the roles that culture, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression play in diagnosis, treatment, and clinical care. The bill would also make related technical, nonsubstantive changes. Passed Assembly Business, Professions and Consumer Protection Committee, as amended, 10-1 Uses taxpayer funds to force Cultural and Linguistic Competency over LGBT issues on physicians and dentists. Contains no opt-out clause for those who oppose the homosexual lifestyle on moral or religious grounds. Adds state-mandated indoctrination upon medical entities, when the industry should be able to determine what type of cultural instruction is best suited for their own business. Establishes and promotes another protected class for homosexuals.

10 AB 714 (Wieckowski, D-Fremont) Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund. Originally introduced as a $1 assessment for all moving violations to fund spinal cord research using embryonic stem cells, author Bob Wieckowski, has amended the bill to drop the traffic citation funding scheme, replacing it instead with a $2 million allocation directly out of the state s general fund. The amendment appears to deal with concerns raised last year by Gov. Jerry Brown, who vetoed a similar proposal, saying traffic fines were an inappropriate funding mechanism for research. Passed Assembly Health Committee, 16-2 Sacrificing the life of embryos is going too far in the development of cures for disabilities or diseases. Human life should not be reduced to a commodity. Much greater promise has been shown in developing cures from adult stem cells, which do not require the destruction of life. California taxpayers have already spent more than $6 billion on stem-cell research most of it wasted on unsuccessful embryonic stem cell research thanks to voter-approved Proposition 71. AB 1076 (Olsen, R-Modesto) School safety: Panic buttons. Existing law provides that school districts and county offices of education are responsible for the overall development of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of their constituent schools. Existing law requires the school site council of a school to write and develop a comprehensive school safety plan relevant to the needs and resources of the particular school. This bill would, if federal funding becomes available for those purposes, require the governing board of each school district and each county superintendent of schools to equip each classroom, cafeteria, theater, gym, and other regularly used space, except a parking lot, in a school serving pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, with a panic button, as described. Passed Assembly Education Committee, as amended, 7-0 The warning buttons could provide school staff and students with vital minutes to get to safety in the event of an activeshooter scenario. Could improve response times by law enforcement with early notification. Implemented along with other school safety initiatives, the panic buttons could serve as a deterrent for would-be shooters or other crimes. In order to be effective and avoid their own, unnecessary panic, school officials would need to establish a strong system to avoid false alarms. AB 1121 (Atkins, D-San Diego) Civil proceedings: Petition for change of name. Existing law sets forth the requirements and procedures for proceedings commenced by the filing of a petition for a change of name. Existing law authorizes a court to grant the petition without a hearing if no written objection to the change of name is timely filed and imposes publication requirements with respect to the court hearing of the change of name petition. Existing law also requires that the current legal name of the petitioner be kept confidential by the court under prescribed circumstances. This bill would provide that if no written objection is timely filed, the order reciting the filing of the petition, the petitioner's name, and the proposed name shall state that the court is required to grant the petition without a hearing. This bill would require the State Registrar to issue a new birth certificate without a court order for any person born in the state who has undergone clinically appropriate treatment for the purpose of gender transition and submits to the State Registrar an affidavit of a

11 physician attesting that the person has undergone that treatment, as specified. Upon receipt of the documentation and a prescribed fee, the State Registrar would be required to establish a new birth certificate reflecting the person's sex and name, if applicable. Passed Assembly Judiciary Committee, as amended, 9-1 Assembly floor, read second time, amended Law creates a special class for transgendered individuals by waiving the court process to legally change their name. Law would also omit the standard publishing requirements, a timely and costly process required by others seeking to change their names. By allowing the creation of a new birth certificate, this law contributes to legal and security risks. AB 1221 (Wilk, R-Valencia) School employees: Discipline: Suspension and dismissal. Existing law prohibits a permanent school employee from being dismissed except for one or more specified offenses. This bill would prohibit a collective bargaining agreement entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2014, from requiring the removal, after a specified time period, from an employee s record of records pertaining to discipline, complaints, reprimands, or investigations relating to the employee s commission, or potential commission, of one of those specified offenses. In addition, the law would ease numerous requirements that make it difficult for administrators to discipline teachers in a timely manner and modifies the role of the Commission on Professional Competence, which currently has final say in disciplinary matters. Assembly Education Committee This bill, similar to SB 531 (Knight, R-Lancaster), allows districts to take action against unsuccessful teachers year-round by eliminating a three-month summer window where dismissals are banned. Allows school administrators to remove teachers from the classroom if the governing board has reasonable cause to believe that the employee is under investigation by a law enforcement agency for commission of a mandatory leave of absence offense. Teachers would still receive pay during the investigation period. Restores local control of schools by removing unnecessary obstacles that are designed to elevate teacher rights over the educational well-being of students. Unchains school districts hampered by a union-protected termination process that has become so cumbersome that some districts have altogether given up trying to terminate bad teachers. AB 1403 (Judiciary Committee) Family law. The Uniform Parentage Act defines the parent and child relationship as the legal relationship existing between a child and the child's parents, including the mother and child relationship and the father and child relationship, and governs proceedings to establish that relationship. The bill would define natural parent as a nonadoptive parent, as specified, whether biologically related to the child or not. The bill would also make certain provisions gender neutral and refer instead to a presumed parent or parent. The bill would make other conforming changes. Existing law specifies the number of judges of the superior court for each county, and allocates additional judgeships to the various counties in accordance with uniform standards for factually determining additional need in each county, as approved by the Judicial Council, and other specified criteria. Existing law provides for the conversion of 146 subordinate judicial officer positions in eligible superior courts upon the occurrence of specified conditions, including that the proposed action is ratified by the Legislature, except that no more than 16 positions may be converted to judgeships in any fiscal year. Notwithstanding this provision, up to 10 additional subordinate judicial officer positions may be converted to judgeships in any fiscal year, if the conversions will result in a judge being

12 assigned to a family law or juvenile law assignment previously presided over by a subordinate judicial officer and the proposed action is ratified by the Legislature. Existing law ratifies the authority of the Judicial Council to convert 10 of those subordinate judicial officer positions to judgeships in the fiscal year. This bill would ratify the authority of the Judicial Council to convert 10 subordinate judicial officer positions to judgeships in the fiscal year where the conversion will result in a judge being assigned to a family law or juvenile law assignment previously presided over by a subordinate judicial officer. Passed Assembly Judiciary Committee, 10-0 The law not only redefines the definition of a parent, it redefines the meaning of the world natural. The law expands, at will, who qualifies to become a child s parent. The bill waters down the vital roles mothers and fathers play in child development by rendering their gender meaningless. The law can arbitrarily infringe upon a biological parent s rights in favor of a presumed parent. SB 316 (Block, D-San Diego) School safety: Door locks. Existing law, the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998 (the act), requires the State Allocation Board to allocate to applicant school districts prescribed per-unhoused-pupil state funding for construction and modernization of school facilities, including hardship funding and supplemental funding for site development and acquisition. Existing law requires all new construction projects submitted to the Division of the State Architect pursuant to the act to include locks that allow doors to classrooms and rooms with an occupancy of 5 or more persons to be locked from the inside, except as specified. This bill would additionally require all modernization projects submitted to the Division of the State Architect pursuant to those provisions to include those locks, except as specified. This bill, no later than January 1, 2015, would require the governing board of each school district and each county superintendent of schools to, for each of its schools, equip the doors of every classroom and every room with an occupancy of 5 or more persons with locks that allow the doors to be locked from the inside, except as specified. By imposing new requirements on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Senate Education Committee The door locks could provide school staff and students with vital minutes to get to safety and out of the line of fire in the event of an active-shooter scenario. Could give teachers one more layer of protection for their students. Implemented along with other school safety initiatives, locked doors could serve as a deterrent for would-be shooters or other crimes. In order to be effective, the systems would need to address other potential negatives, including easy exits in the event of fires, false alarms and student pranks. SB 531 (Knight, R-Lancaster) School employees: Discipline: Suspension and dismissal. Note: the same bill was introduced in the Assembly as AB 1221 (Wilk, R-Valencia). Existing law prohibits a permanent school employee from being dismissed except for one or more specified causes. This bill would prohibit a collective bargaining agreement entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2014, from requiring the removal, after a specified time period, from an employee s record of records pertaining to discipline, complaints, reprimands, or investigations relating to the employee s commission, or potential commission, of one of those specified causes for dismissal. In

13 addition, the law would ease numerous requirements that make it difficult for administrators to discipline teachers in a timely manner and modifies the role of the Commission on Professional Competence, which currently has final say in disciplinary matters. Senate Education Committee This bill, similar to AB 1221 (Wilk, R-Valencia), allows districts to take action against unsuccessful teachers year-round by eliminating a three-month summer window where dismissals are banned. Allows school administrators to remove teachers from the classroom if the governing board has reasonable cause to believe that the employee is under investigation by a law enforcement agency for commission of a mandatory leave of absence offense. Teachers would still receive pay during the investigation period. Restores local control of schools by removing unnecessary obstacles that are designed to elevate teacher rights over the educational well being of students. Unchains school districts hampered by a union-protected termination process that has become so cumbersome that some districts have given up trying to terminate bad teachers altogether. Scheduled hearings: week of May 6 Monday, May 6 SB 192 (Liu, D-Glendale) Early learning and school educational support services Passed Senate Education Committee, 7-1 Senate Appropriations Committee SB 473 (Block, D-San Diego) Human trafficking. Passed Senate Public Safety Committee, 7-0 Senate Appropriations Committee AB 673 (Grove, R-Bakersfield) Personal income taxes: Credits: Personal exemption. Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee, May 6